Community Development Program is one of Caritas’s core programs started in 1994 in Boeung Tumpun , outskirt of Phnom Penh. Caritas Cambodia has been actively engaged in integrated rural development activities of the poor and marginalized people. The program focuses more on grassroots development and their institutions strengthening, provides basic services and rural infrastructure and water resources system development, agriculture development within communities,

rural credit provisions, small business generation and natural resource preservation and ensure food security through expansion in agriculture production and increased availability of rice and food crops.

Target Areas

Community Development Program has been operating in 7 provinces across the country, in Battambong , Kandal , Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Mondulkiri , Siem Reap and Preah Vihear. and in the year 2008 , Caritas extended its mission in Mondulkiri where we work with the indigenous people.

However, in all the 7 target provinces, the program has formed the poor people into grassroots group named Village Development Association (VDA) in order to build their capacity and work through VDA.

The Overall of community activities are responsible by the Representatives of each Unit and the Management Committee of VDA in Each village.

The village Development Association (VDA) Structure:

Special Focus of Community Development Program

Development Focus Caritas Cambodia implements development programs with community participation, need-based intervention, promotion of self-reliance and the ability of the community to be sustainable. The activities include providing community drinking water facilities, road constructions, irrigation canals, check dams, water gate, etc.

Empowerment Focus It is to eliminate the feeling of powerlessness, crushed confidence and an inability to envision and plan for a more positive future. Empowerment Program of Caritas Cambodia aims at bringing awareness of social-reality and motivating people to act collectively. People's structures are built, people become partners of Caritas Cambodia in the development process, equal opportunity is provided to the community in decision-making, capacity building of community, and people gain confidence through this process.

Economic Focus Providing assistance for increasing agricultural production activities, animal husbandry, other income generation activities and capacity building are being provided by Caritas Cambodia. These activities help them increase income, redeem themselves from moneylenders, cooperation and concern for other members. It also helps the poor to have better health and social status.

Since 1994, Community Development Program has been engaging a lot of integral rural development activities and promoting and strengthening community-based activities in order to bring a better life for the poor and the most marginalized group of people. Our objectives of the development program are counted as follow:

To organize people in form of VDA and make them conscious and able to shoulder the responsibilities of overall development of the poor and marginalized

To increase literacy among adults in order to build self-confidence and reduce exploitation of the poor due to ignorance

To ensure food security for the poor and marginalized through improving community based livelihood activities :

Agriculture development

Small infrastructure

IGA/MED

To build network of all people organization at grass root level, with government and other likeminded organizations in order to strengthen the collective advocacy action

To establish networking for preparedness at different level in order to prevent and mitigate the effect of disaster and to assist and enable victims to restore a normal life and

To improve and introduce news system and structure of Caritas Cambodia at all level.

Community development program’s long term goals: This help shape a good direction of Caritas work and the program planning. The challenges at the grass roots appear almost the same; those needed to be addressed and developed. Our long term goals are to bring the poor and vulnerable group of people enrich their life and as follow:

To develop the capacity of the community members for the good governance of village development associations so as to assume their own responsibility for the management of their village based organizations for overall development of the poor and the marginalized.

To ensure food security for the poor and marginalized through sustainable agriculture and increase quantity of agriculture products

To develop environment sanitation and community health care awareness among the target communities for improving the clean living

Rehabilitation and reconstruction of rural infrastructure ,create and promote integrated development of rural community covering all aspects economic, social, education and health development.